Comparing genuine and simulated suicide notes: a new perspective.

E. S. Shneidman and N. L. Farberow (1957) preselected writers of stimulated suicide notes to eliminate vulnerable subjects. Subsequent comparisons of genuine and stimulated notes have perpetuated the methodological misstep of the original study. In this study, a new set of genuine notes were selected from completed suicides by men and women who left at least one note, who were White, and who were older than 18 years of age. The simulated note writers (SNWs) were unpreselected, unpaid community volunteers. Genuine note writers in the current and 1957 samples were not found to differ; SNWs from the samples did differ. Problems with the interpretation of differences between genuine and simulated notes are discussed, with a focus on the role-playing nature of the simulated notes.